dragonflies
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Cyclops
Do you know how hard it is to get a photo of a Common Green Darner? Anax junius. Well, for one thing, they are not one of the perching dragonflies, but every once and a while they do have to take a break. At about three inches long, these are one of the largest species…
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“Why are there so many dragonflies in prospect park this year?” asks a Googler. Are there? Populations rise and fall through the years, depending on weather, food supplies (adult dragonflies eat other insects), disease ~ the usual ebb and flow of expansion and contraction amid animal and plant populations. (Only we humans have managed to…
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Jamaica Bay Update
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.Through the blind at Big John’s Pond: Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax, a juvenile), Glosy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Three Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) were in there as well, but not visible here.…
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Dragonfly Exuviae
Dragonflies seen at Brooklyn Bridge Park these days include the twelve-spotted skimmer, blue dasher, painted skimmer, and variegated meadowhawk. These long exuviae, the shed exoskeleton of dragonfly larvae, belong to one of these, or perhaps another, species. In their larval stage, dragonflies are aquatic, and voracious predators. When ready to make the leap to the…
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Brooklyn Bridge Park
Painted skimmer, Libellula semifascianata. (Oh, come now, much more than just semi fascianata!)A ladybug larva demolishing aphids. Perhaps the seven spotted, Coccinella septempunctata. Twice or more as big as the insects below, and a little more lumbering, hence the best shot of the post! This is an Eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica, working the swamp…
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Dragonflies
Brooklyn Bridge Park is now open at its northern end, in the shadow of the great bridge. Here small pools and streams, part of the park’s landscaping and drainage system, are newly planted with a host of plants. And what freshwater body is complete without dragonflies? Recently, under a hot sun, I watched twelve-spotted skimmers,…
Backyard and Beyond 